Yesterday I drove up to Cheshire and back to pick up a new addition to the pack. Casper is a Kennel Club registered two and a half year old Cavalier proven stud dog. He is recently heart examined, eye examined and has the two DNA tests recommended for Cavaliers which are Dry Eye/Curly Coat and Episodic Falling. First thing is he needs his teeth cleaning and maybe a couple extractions looking at his molars. Shame because for a Cavalier he has pretty good denture alignment, but unfortunately one of the symptoms of being brachycephalic is with the shortening of the muzzle that occurs with practically every brachycephalic breed teeth are more crowded and have poor dental alignment which makes them prone to a plethora of dental issues with plaque build up being one leading to Periodontal Disease so need extra care if you don't want them to suffer with plaque build up than non brachycephalic breeds. He is booked in for the 9th October for a dental and then it will be getting him MRI scanned in the near future.He is settling in really well with the rest of the pack and as still getting over this bloody lurgy and also taking on more relief milking recently I've been a bit knackered come evening to be writing blogs of any length. Hope to be back soon though firing on all cylinders and will tell more about Casper and the plans we have for him.

Casper and a tired me (as although I had the company of our daughter Florrie, I did the whole drive to Cheshire and back myself) last night after getting home from Cheshire

After Donald Trump's most recent threats on Twitter to world peace North Korea crisis: Washington denies 'war declared' I think someone needs to start a petition on line calling for the banning of World leaders from using social media. Then get a raw hide chew and put Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in a room and let them sort out the Deadlock like Toby and Blottie and no one gets hurt other than someones pride.

You know how somethings just make you laugh and at the moment laughing involves uncontrollable coughing for me as I get over the lurgy, so I know I should try and not make myself laugh to much, but last night Thomas showed me a custom he had made for teddy calling him, "Ninja Teddy. " I said, "A teddy is a tedard!" and why the idea of a teddy in a tedard (the amalgamation of the word teddy and leotard) should be so funny to me I can't explain, but my did it make me laugh (I tried to hold it back), and then I coughed until I nearly lost consciousness.

Still feeling pretty rough with the tail end now of the lurgy we have had going through our home. Leaving me with a cough (that seems to be instigated by just laughing), and a bunged up nose, but the dogs seem to appreciate the more lethargic me.

Got this interesting bit of footage this morning of Toby and Blottie. Blottie had the chew first and then Toby decided he wanted it. I think he thought Blottie would give it up, but he judged the situation wrongly and we had a deadlock. Blottie shows us that she wants the chew more than Toby, even though she is backed in to a corner.

Wes Anderson has just released the trailer for his new film Isle of Dogs. This director produced The Grand Budapest Hotel ​which is one of my favourite movies. Can't wait to see this offering which has from the trailer very much the feeling of revisiting Fantastic Mr. Fox ground, which is also up there in very interesting films to watch and we don't have to worry about any dogs being harmed in the making of it.

Yesterday I posted a blog Like mother, like daughters with a video featuring Smudge (a pure Cavalier King Charles spaniel) playing with her daughters Bumble and Blottie who are Brittany/Cavalier and mentioned her likeness to a Clumber ​ spaniel. So I thought I would put up a photo of a Clumber spaniel from when they were more working dog than the mostly show ring caricatures they have become today.

Clumber spaniel from 1915

And then I have tried to get a photo of Smudge in a similar stance, which was harder said than done with a dog that if it sees a treat automatically sits or flops out. I think most can see why I jokingly say sometimes she is a Clumber cross Cavalier.

Smudge a Cavalier King Charles spaniel 2017

It ain't that ridiculous to suggest she may have some Clumber blood coursing through her veins as the Blenheim spaniel which was amalgamated in to the Toy king Charles spaniel came from a working background originally known as the Marlborough spaniel and it is thought that the Clumber (you have to remember the Clumber originally was not the over done heavy, fleshed, droopy eyelid dog we now see produced for the show ring) and Marlborough may of had a few clandestine meetings in each others development and as both favoured by the British aristocracy it is highly likely before type turned in to breed that Smudge somewhere in her linage had some Clumber genes just waiting to be expressed and would explain her exceptional nose for scent and although slow she has relentlessness when going through dense cover and just listen to the description of the temperament of a Clumber, "Gentle, loyal and affectionate. Enjoy curling up on the couch, eating and sleeping." Basically a bigger Cavalier.

Saturday morning I received a sad email telling me that Lucy's time to go had passed from Sue and Jim. Lucy aka Lucinda was a beautiful Ruby Cavalier we re-homed in 2011. Lucy came to us as an adult girl nearly 2 years old and we bred one pure Cavalier litter from her with Charlie Spring 2010 (just before I started the website up) producing 6 lovely pups. In 2011 with more of an idea of where I was going as regards using cross breeding in our program, we decided along with Bonnie her sister who we had also took on when the previous owner (who was a hobby breeder) decided to sell them as adults, to re-home them both and we also felt that Lucy and Bonnie would both enjoy life in a smaller pack. We found Bonnie a home with a family in Cornwall, and Sue and Jim took on Lucy. Lucy over the last 6 years came back to us regularly though when Sue and Jim visited their daughter and her family in Australia, and recently with Dolly's time to go Sue so kindly rang me and we had a chat. From that chat I surmised then Lucy's time was nearing. Lucy had Mitrial Valve Disease (MVD) and she had reached the stage of Chronic Heart Failure (CHF). To many of us have been there with this awful heart condition. She had been on medication to ease the progression, but Sue and Jim on Saturday morning knew it was Lucy's time to go and as Sue told me in her email, "she is at rest now no more struggling to breath we did it because we loved her so very much." She also thanked me, "Thank you for letting us have her for 6 years she was a joy. xx"The thanks though should also be on Lucy and my part as you gave Lucy 6 wonderful years of life, secure and loved. It is never easy to let them go. Love though is not just roses and pretty butterflies. When it came to the hardest act of love you will have to do for your dog, you did not fail her and gave her a dignified end. Which as Margaret who contacted me on hearing about Dolly's time to go puts it, "what a wonderful thing we can do for ouranimal friends at the end of their lives, that we cannot do for our human familyand friends."

Finally got a bit of footage of these three playing. I noticed Smudge giving the cue to her daughter Bumble for a bit of playtime and managed to get all the other dogs out the way without stopping the play and then rush and got my camera to catch a couple minutes of their playtime. Notice at the beginning of the filming Bumble comes along the wall and if you look closely you will see her hackles up (the ridge of hair along her back standing up) her Mum and sister Blottie are behind her and I'm just hoping the play is still on and thankfully it is, as Bumble drops from the wall and they resume the chase. I have always noted that daughters for the best part will play respectfully and submissively with their Mum even if like Blottie and Bumble they are bigger than their Mum.​Smudge is nearly 7 1/2 years old now. I always laugh and refer to her has my Clumber Spaniel cross Cavalier girl because of her heavy set, but she is a pure Cavalier and although chunky looking, if you run your hand over her back her ribs are easily felt and she has waist when viewed dorsally. She has though been a phenomenal stock bitch carrying 3 litters producing and rearing all of her 24 pups with seemingly little effort, with her first litter being 9 pups, second 6 pups and last litter another amazing 9 pups. All born good sized, not one misle draft (runt) pup amongst them and she never needed any help rearing them as she always had loads of milk, but unfortunately her fertility producing big litters and her prowess producing milk for her pups has left her with a bit of a lowered undercarriage. Look out for Blottie at the end noticing a fly and catching it.

Last night for dessert we had a cake off with our son Alfie making a moist chocolate cake and me making another blackberry and apple cake. The acid test was what would husband David when he got in from work choose, as he is more of a chocolate dessert person than a fruit dessert person. He obviously enjoyed the blackberry and apple cake the other day that he surprised me and had a piece of it rather than the chocolate cake.

“The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you,but he will make a fool of himself, too.” ― Samuel Butler

Me with Bumble and Blottie, waiting patiently to be unleashed, November 2018

Author

Hello, I am Jane, you might of guessed, I love dogs. We are situated in the North Devon countryside, England, United Kingdom. Our home is occupied by my husband, David, our children, pack of dogs and me.On this page you can find out what we are getting up to and the day to day issues our dogs encounter. I also post stories about my work as a relief milker of cows and life in general.You can also find regular updates here on how our pups are getting on in their new homes.To contact me my number is 01769 560969 and email is howarthmurch@btinternet.com